Combine the shorter season with consumer worries about the economy and online competition, he said, and "you've got a sort of perfect storm working against the brick and mortar retailers."

Brookins not only teaches marketing. He has 30 years of retail experience, and his wife has run a gift shop for 25 years.

"If there are fewer shopping days, that puts stress on all the consumers to maximize their time," he said. "It's going to be an interesting year for a whole variety of reasons."

But not all retailers are worried.

"I've been through short seasons and extremely long seasons," said Janet Hutchison, owner of The Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady. "The overall impact isn't all that different. We've always been a real last-minute store. People come in the last few days (before) Christmas with a long list and a desperate face."

But Hutchison said she has seen some impact this year, with more shoppers starting early.

"The early arrival of Hanukkah has had a bigger impact on us," she said. "We're definitely seeing Hanukkah shoppers."

Mike Shaffer, general manager for both Wilton and Rotterdam Square malls, said store operators are aware that they have less time to make their sales.

"Retailers are aggressively promoting the holiday season because of the shorter season," he said.

At Crossgates Mall, General Manager Joe Castaldo said the crowds seem to be arriving earlier this year.

"I was here last weekend, and the mall was just incredibly busy," he said. "I think a lot of people are getting their lists together."

He is not too worried that the shorter season will mean fewer sales. Gifts, after all, will still have to be bought.

"The longer you're open, it might just spread it out longer," he said.

Hutchison of The Open Door Bookstore agrees. She does see one potential impact. Typically, Thanksgiving weekend is busy with shoppers and then there is a brief lull before shopping resumes in force.

"We won't see quite the drop-off after Thanksgiving we would see," she said.

For retailers like her, Hutchison said, the bigger worry is not the shortness of the season but how stormy it is.

"More important for us than how early Thanksgiving falls is when we get a big snowstorm on the weekend," she said. "That's a killer."